Reyneke, Van Wyk, and Cowling star as South Africa overwhelms Ireland

Kayla Reyneke, Ashleigh van Wyk, and Fay Cowling were in fine form as South Africa Women u19 overwhelmed Ireland Women u19 in the first two matches of their five-match Youth T20I series at the Groenkloof Oval on Monday in Pretoria.

In the first match, played in the morning, South Africa won the toss, elected to bowl first, and restricted Ireland to only 113/8. Captain Reyneke and company needed only 13.1 overs to score 115/4 in reply and claim victory.

The hosts chose not to change a winning formula for the afternoon encounter. They won the toss, again chose to field, and were even tougher on Ireland, holding the tourists to just 93/8 in their 20 overs. Then, with the bat, the South African side was even more emphatic in sealing victory than they had been earlier in the day, racing to 94/4 in 9.2 overs.

South Africa leads the series 2-0 and will be aiming to make it 3-0 and wrap up a series win when the sides play again on Wednesday.

In the morning’s match, the Irish innings was doomed from the first over of the day. Nthabiseng Nini saw to it that the visitors did not have a good start by any measure by breaching Freya Sargent’s defences in the first over. However, the visitors consolidated through Amy Hunter and Alice Tector, who scored 52 runs in their second-wicket partnership.

Matters rapidly changed after Mona-Lisa Legodi dismissed Hunter. The wicket taken by the Prestige College learner was the beginning of a downhill spiral for Ireland. Ashleigh van Wyk followed the removal of Hunter with the wicket of Tector with the next delivery. The leg spinner from Marais Viljoen spun webs around the Irish batters as she bagged three wickets for 22 runs from her four-over spell.

Reyneke emerged from the innings break in no mood to stick around and make a meal out of the chase. The South Africa captain made it seem as if she was batting on a different surface than everyone else, carving a wonderful unbeaten 46 off 27 balls to shepherd the home side to victory. The former Hoërskool Bellville learner struck five fours and two sixes.

She also shared a match-winning 55-run third-wicket partnership with Diara Ramlakan (18) which all but sealed South Africa’s win.

In the afternoon match, the visitors had a better start. They didn’t lose their first wicket until the fifth over when Fay Cowling broke a dangerous-looking opening stand between Sargent (9) and Hunter (24). As had happened in the previous game, the loss of the first wicket triggered a collapse. Hunter’s dismissal was the first of four wickets to fall in 5.1 overs for only 22 runs.

Cowling gave little away, adhering to a nagging and challenging line and length. The Jeppe High School for Girls seam bowler’s discipline was outstanding and she conceded only three runs in three overs while capturing three wickets in the process. She also pouched the catch that sent Sargent on her way just as she looked like she was preparing to score big.

Then, during the South Africa innings, Cowling put her all-round abilities on display, striking an unbeaten 18 off 10 balls to steer the hosts over the line. When she arrived at the crease, South Africa was on 67/4 after decent contributions from their top order.

Simone Lourens and Jemma Botha had kicked things off with a 19-run opening partnership. As they did in the first innings, Reyneke (19) and Ramlakan (19) shared a useful partnership, adding 40 runs to the score for the third wicket.

Niamh MacNulty and Aimee Maguire dismissed the duo within four deliveries of each other. However, that was too little too late.

Summarised Scorecards

Match 1

Ireland u19 113/8 (Amy Hunter 24, Alice Tector 24; Ashleigh van Wyk 3/22, Ntabiseng Nini 1/15); South Africa u19 115/4 (Kayla Reyneke 46*, Simone Lourens 19, Kia McCartney 2/16, Freya Sargent 1/20) South Africa won by six wickets.

Match 2

Ireland u19 93/8 (Freya Sargent (24), Ellie McGee 13; Fay Cowling 3/3, Ashleigh van Wyk 1/14); South Africa u19 94/4 (Diara Ramlakan 19, Kayla Reyneke 19; Freya Sargent 2/18, Aimee Maguire 1/21). South Africa won by six wickets.

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CS Chiwanza

CS Chiwanza is a former poet and now a full-time storyteller of Southern African sports. He jokes that those who can't do a thing well enough either teach or write. He knows the right way to hold a cricket bat and the right grip for the wobbleball, but can't do either well enough to be picked for a good team. So he writes. However, he mastered the best dart grip and spends hours stat-padding against his wife and kids.

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